Blackthorn-The True Trouble
by Phoenixbird
Summary: PG because I choose it that way! I get the feeling that I type fast. This is the second part in my saga of Keya the Darkness Master's adventures, this time venturing into Blackthorn City becuase of some trouble...but it's not what everyone thinks.
1. Asheya-The Master Of Blackthorn Forest

Blackthorn-The True Trouble  
  
Disclaimer: I've said it before. Pokémon ain't mine, so live with it. Keya, Asheya, Brian, Jason, Simon, and Leria are mine, so ask if you wanna use them!  
  
  
From the crest of the hill, I could just barely make out the buildings of Blackthorn City. But we weren't truly headed for the city as much as the woods surrounding it.   
  
"You DO know where Asheya lives, right?" asked Brian, my traveling companion. In his arms was a baby Houndour. I looked up from the map I'd been studying.  
  
"I know the general area," I replied. "The EXACT location doesn't appear on the map, and shouldn't. All the places that the Darkness Masters (this was what I called the people who helped me) live are secret. Otherwise...well, I don't want to get into details."   
  
"You're going to have to tell him sometime, Keya," said Umbreon. "You can't hide your secret forever, Glowing One."  
  
"I know that! But now isn't the time!" I said, knowing that Brian didn't know I'd said anything at all. It was part of having the powers of the Glowing One. I could freely converse with Dark Pokémon and no one noticed.   
  
We entered the woods about a mile from the city, having to cut through thick undergrowth. Asheya hides well I thought.   
  
It wasn't long before we met up with a Sneasel that was wearing a collar. She looked up at me expectantly.  
  
"Keya to see Asheya," I said, and Sneasel nodded and led us through the forest to a dome-shaped building. I smiled. So THIS was what Asheya had meant by 'improvements'.   
  
Brian kind of hung back as I knocked the secret knock on the door: two soft, two loud, three soft. Asheya opened the door, and seemed surprised that we were here. Or, at least, that BRIAN was here.  
  
"Hi, Asheya! This is Brian, my new partner in Celadon. Didn't expect us so early?" I laughed as her look of surprise changed to one of astonishment. "I take that as a no."  
  
"Come in, come in! Keya, I need to talk to you about some stuff. Um...Brian, right? What Pokémon do you have?" she asked. Brian released his Pokémon, and I realized for the first time how powerful he must have been at the Gym.   
  
He had a Murkrow, an Espeon, a Haunter, a Natu, a Slugma, and of course Houndour.   
  
"I'm surprised the people at Saffron Gym didn't know about Murkrow sooner," said Umbreon in a surprised voice. I nodded, and turned to Asheya.  
"You said you had some questions for me?" I asked. Asheya nodded and led me into a back room. Umbreon followed.  
  
"Can he really be trusted?" were the first words out of her mouth. I sighed. Didn't Asheya trust me?  
  
"Of course, Asheya. If I knew I couldn't trust him, he wouldn't have made it this far."  
  
"Sorry, Keya. I just...there's been some trouble here lately. The Blackthorn Police seem to think that Dark Pokémon are invading, and they're giving a hundred-dollar reward for any one found...dead or alive." Asheya looked down at the floor as I gasped and Umbreon let out a scream.   
  
"That solves that problem, then. We don't let any Dark Pokémon near the city," I said.  
  
"But they've started searching the woods. I'm afraid that...if they find me here...you know what'll happen. And the rumor is that some boy is behind it all." I gasped again at the thought that raced through my head.   
  
"What's wrong, Airenkeya?" asked Umbreon, proving she was really worried by using my full name.  
  
"Jason," I said. "It HAS to be Jason."   
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Ooh, cliffhangers. And I enjoy writing them. Keya's got quite an adventure ahead of her, not just in this story, but in others, too (I hope). Read on, my friends! ~The Darkness Master   



	2. The Enemy Returns

Umbreon shuddered at the name, and Asheya looked at me strangely.  
  
"Keya, Jason hasn't been around for two years. What makes you think he'll come back now?" Asheya had a point. But there was one way to find out.  
  
"Houndoom!" I said, and he appeared in a burst of red light. "Houndoom, does anything seem...strange to you?" I asked, and Houndoom sniffed the air. His eyes began to glow red as he glared at the window.  
  
"JASON!" he yelled, but all Asheya heard was "DOOM!" which was probably good enough anyway. "He's here! And he's up to no good."   
  
"I take it we've got company?" asked Brian as Asheya and I headed back to the front room. I nodded. "Who might it be?"  
  
"It might me nothing, but I trust Houndoom more than that. It's Jason, Brian. The original owner of Houndoom and Umbreon...and my sworn enemy. He vowed to return to do to Umbreon twice what he'd done to Houndoom (at that time Houndour). And I guess he has. Returned, I mean."  
  
"Nothing good will come of this," said Umbreon, and I agreed. "Jason is pure evil inside. HE'S the dark one, not us." I glanced at Umbreon to see that she was trembling. I picked her up and turned to face Brian and Asheya.  
  
"Well then. We have to put a stop to this. If he's going to get Umbreon, he'll have to go through me and all my Pokémon first!" I cried, and Brian nodded.  
  
"Mine, too!" he said, even though he knew he wouldn't be much help if Jason was commanding Dark-types, which I knew somehow he would be. Unless Jason used Fighting Pokémon, the only type strong against Dark, Brian's only good Pokémon would be Slugma and Haunter. If even.   
  
"I'm with you all the way!" said Asheya, and I knew she meant it. She'd been the first person I 'found' with my passion for Dark-types, and had readily agreed to become the first in a hopefully large group of Darkness Masters.   
  
"I'll fight," said Umbreon softly, and I shook my head.  
  
"Not unless you have to, Umbreon. I'm not risking you." I could still feel Umbreon shaking. But I knew that if she wanted to, there was no way I could stop her fighting.   
  
The three of us (three humans, anyway) headed for the center of the city, Umbreon and Houndour hidden in backpacks so as not to arouse suspicion. Asheya was a respected trainer here, having beaten Claire for the Risingbadge, and no one knew she had any connection with Dark Pokémon. No one recognized either me or Brian, so we figured we were safe.   
  
When we arrived at the police station, I put on a disguise. If Jason really was here, he'd recognize me right away, even if it HAD been two years.   
  
I put on a blonde wig to cover my midnight-black hair. My eyes were staying a deep violet; there was nothing we could do about that. I DID put on a fake pair of glasses, and, with my heart pounding, entered the building.   
  
"Hello," said a very familiar voice. Sitting behind the counter was Jason himself, accompanied by a rather beautiful girl. "Can I do something for you?" he asked.  
  
"Yes," I said in a high-pitched voice. "I've been hearing rumors ever since I arrived about Dark Pokémon overtaking the city. Is this true?" I held my breath. Would he buy it?  
  
"Yes, these rumors are true. Dark Pokémon are the root of all evil, and I have proof. Look at what a Dark Pokémon did to me!" He gestured to a scar on his face, and I had to work hard to control my laughter. I recognized it as the mark of a Shadow Ball attack, no doubt the same one from two years ago. "Leria, show this girl the picture!"  
  
The beautiful girl, Leria, handed me a photograph of a girl, flanked by an Umbreon and a Houndour. I was shocked to find that it was ME! But that had been a little more than a year ago. HOW HAD HE GOTTEN THIS PICTURE?  
  
"It was her Pokémon that attacked poor Jason," said Leria. "Do you recognize her?" she asked, and I hurriedly thought of one of the few places where no Darkness Masters had secret shelters.  
  
"Yes, I do. I've seen her before, somewhere near the Indigo Plateau," I said carefully, and Jason looked hard at me.  
  
"Are you positive it was her? Not someone else?" he asked, and I nodded.   
  
"I am positive, Jason," I said. "I know where she resides."  
  
"I know you do, miss, but you're not telling the truth, now are you?" he asked, his voice full of venom.  
  
"What are you talking about?" I asked, only then noticing that I had forgotten to change me voice!   
  
"You know exactly what I'm talking about...Darkness Master!" he said, and opened a pokéball. "Destroy her, Charizard!" he said evilly. Charizard appeared, and opened its fiery mouth wide.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Ok, this is NOT Charizard-bashing; it's just general Jason-bashing. For anyone named Jason reading this, this most likely doesn't represent you. I'm not gonna bother with the name Leria, since it came out of my own mind. Keep reading to find out what happens in chapter three! ~The Darkness Master   
  
  



	3. Victory Or Defeat? *and* Off To Mahogany...

  
I grabbed the first pokéball I came to and threw it. It was Houndoom's. Houndoom instantly figured out what was happening and jumped in front of me, getting hit by the flames that were meant to be mine. I heard it say something through Charizard's roar.  
  
"Go. The others need you now, more than I do. You MUST go!" I knew I had to, even if it did feel like treason. I ran out of the building to find my friends surrounded by Dark Pokémon, obviously at Jason's command. Their Pokémon were doing their best to fight, but I could see Brian holding his baby Houndour tight, a look of fear in his eyes.  
  
If there was ever any doubt of Brian in my mind, it vanished at that moment. I grabbed the pokéball of my best non-Dark Pokémon and threw it high in the air. "Pidgeot!" I called. "Attack!"   
  
She obeyed, swooping down on the unsuspecting Pokémon from behind. They were quick to turn and fight, but I knew Pidgeot could take them down easily. I was more worried about my friends.  
  
I ran to them, and the look of relief in Asheya's eyes was enough to shake me out of my temporary shock.  
  
"Are you alright?" I asked, out of breath for some odd reason. Asheya nodded, but Brian's face was pale. "What's wrong?" I asked him. He shook his head in a 'tell you later' gesture, and I shook my own and put up a barrier of silence around us with my power.  
  
"Houndour...I think an attack got through...her leg..." I could see one leg sticking out at an odd angle. I gently laid my hand on the leg, making Houndour whine. I sent my power through it, and a bright spot approached during this dark day.   
  
"She'll be alright," I said as I carefully popped the bones back into place. I dug in my backpack until I found some wooden sticks and a bandage, and bound the leg tight. "There," I said, and the barrier disappeared.  
  
"Look!" exclaimed Asheya. "Houndoom!" And there he was. Barely a scratch on him, and he was carrying a pokéball in his mouth. He dropped it in my hands, and quickly got rid of the attacking Pokémon with a roar. The police station, I could see, was in ruins, and Jason and Leria were nowhere to be found.  
  
I called back Pidgeot and opened the pokéball. Something very small and helpless-looking appeared. I bent down and gasped at what it was.  
  
It was a baby Chikorita. The poor thing looked like he had just hatched, and already he was kept in a pokéball?? And he didn't look like he was treated that well, either.  
  
"Leria's," said Houndoom, and I called him back, too. Carefully picking up the Chikorita, I led my two friends back through the forest to Asheya's home.   
  
It was about a week later that my pokégear rang. I answered it to hear another familiar voice, though this one was much friendlier than the last familiar voice I'd encountered.  
  
"Hi, Keya? It's Simon, in Mahogany. I just heard news of a very exciting story going on in Blackthorn, and I figured you'd be there. Am I right?"  
  
"You bet! Listen, if two kids show up, one a guy named Jason with a scar on his face, and the other one a beauty named Leria, please tell me!"  
  
"Actually, I was hoping you'd come to Mahogany Town anyway. We're having a birthday party for my partner, Juilee. You remember her, right?"  
  
"How could I forget?" Juilee was the Murkrow breeder, and had been one of the most recent Masters I'd 'found'. "Her Pokémon went crazy when they met me! Sure we'll be there!" I said, hanging up.  
  
"Brian, we're going to Mahogany Town!" I said, and he got up quickly.   
  
"More trouble?" he asked. I shook my head.  
  
"A birthday party, and we leave now! Let's go!" Umbreon came instantly to my side, and I picked up Chikorita, which now took me to be his trainer.   
  
"Wait," said Asheya, and I looked over my shoulder at her. "I'm coming too," she said, and I knew there was no arguing with her. So I just nodded, and we set off through the forest towards what would hopefully be a happy birthday.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Well? The next one, again only if anyone wants me to write it, will be called "A Mahogany Celebration". Hope ta see you there! ~The Darkness Master   



End file.
